On the Road to Equality

This magazine, which speaks in the name of the women of Lebanon, takes care to preserve in its pages the manifestations of the activity of the women's organizations, all of which called one another together after the summer holiday to mount a new peaceful offensive for the recognition of the rights of the Lebanese woman as a citizen, bearing what man bears and possessing what he possesses.

And there is a word that must be said, imposed upon us by the first duty laid on anyone who wishes to stand in the ranks of frank and truthful journalism:

We say, to the men and women who criticize the work of the Executive Committee, accuse it of acting on its own, and reproach it for pursuing the effort alone without the other organizations, that in everything it has done the committee has done more than custom imposes and courtesy approves. After the call of the Kataeb women's organization to a general meeting held at the Kataeb House on April 12, 1950, a large number of societies answered the invitation and another number ignored it; at that meeting it was decided to invite the absent societies to a second meeting, held on April 27, 1950, so that those who had missed the first meeting might attend the second.

At this second meeting the committee was elected, and it was decided that it should be independent of every party and every society, and that its presidency should rotate.

After this frank and truthful word, which accords with the facts, this magazine asks all the women's organizations and all the women of Lebanon to join hands and help spread the idea of comprehensive support, for the good of Lebanon first and for the good of woman.

As for what happened after the summer holiday, we summarize it in these lines taken from the report of Mrs. Ellen Rihan, which she read to the women's delegations at the great meeting held on February 5 at the Officers' Club. She said:

On December 18, 1950, a meeting was held at which it was decided to call on His Excellency the President of the Republic to win his support. On December 26, 1950, the second meeting was held; it was convened immediately after the disorders that swept the country during the two holidays, so the committee was taken up with the weightier matter over the weighty, and sent telegrams of strong condemnation to the highest authorities, asking that the use of weapons be forbidden. This telegram had its good effect, and telegrams poured in, encouraging and thanking.

In the first week of the new year, that is from January 1 to 7, 1951, Woman's Week was held, and publicity was spread in the newspapers and over Radio Lebanon —

In the same week the Mother of Lebanon, the Marquise de Freige, sent a telegram of support.

On January 4 the committee held a meeting that included: the president of the Beirut Merchants' Association, the delegate of the Physicians' Syndicate, the delegates of the Private School Teachers' Syndicate, the delegate of the Farmers' Union, the delegates of the Students' Committee, the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the president of the Industrialists' Association, the head of the Press Syndicate, and the delegates of the Federation of Labor Unions. The heads of the Engineers' Syndicate and the Pharmacists' Syndicate excused themselves from attending, agreeing in advance to whatever resolutions might be adopted.

Those present drew up a telegram asking for the recognition of woman's rights, and it was sent to His Excellency the Prime Minister.

And on January 5 the committee met with the Ustads Wadih Naim, Ahmad al-Barjawi, and Habib Abi Shahla; Sami Bey al-Solh and Ustad Emile Lahoud gave their support in absentia.

On January 9 a delegation carried to His Excellency the President of the Republic and to His Excellency the Prime Minister a petition asking that a bill be drafted granting woman her political rights and that it be referred to the Chamber of Deputies. The petition included the following question:

"Why did the Lebanese government sign the Charter of Human Rights? Why did it invite the international Commission on the Rights of Woman to hold its conference in Lebanon, and then neither act by the charter nor carry out the recommendations of the conference?"

On January 22 and on the 28th the committee met with the Ustads Said Akl, Subhi al-Mahmasani, Muhyi al-Din al-Nsouli, and Sheikh Pierre Gemayel, to study the most suitable ways of bringing the highest authorities to amend the electoral law so that woman may exercise her right in the coming Chamber.

* * *

After this great meeting at the Officers' Club, the women's delegations proceeded to the Presidential Palace, met His Excellency the President, and handed him a second memorandum urging His Excellency to be so kind as to refer their first memorandum to the Council of Ministers. And after a frank question put to His Excellency as to whether this memorandum would indeed find its way to the Council, His Excellency answered frankly that he would refer it.

After this visit a press conference was held at the house of Mrs. Laure Tabet, at which Mrs. Emily Fares Ibrahim explained the committee's work, concluding her report with these words:

"Before closing, I should like to say a word in comment on what we have heard repeatedly during this campaign of ours — that woman's efforts and her wakefulness, in her capacity as a citizen, ought not to be confined to the question of her equality with man.

Woman, gentlemen, realizes — and must realize fully — that the question of recognizing the principle of her equality with man is not an end in itself, but a matter of putting things in their proper place: putting the elements in the natural place prepared for them.

We were told in a high quarter that the ordeal that has befallen sister Palestine — and the whole Arab world, of course — and the specter of war hanging over the world were among the causes that delayed woman's cause in Lebanon. Our answer to this is contained in what we have already said: that the question of recognizing the principle of woman's equality with man is nothing other than a matter of putting the elements in the natural place prepared for them. As for this question being more important than the question of the release of liberties, above all freedom of thought; or the question of woman's equality with man being more important than the problem of the high cost of living sweeping the Lebanese markets, or more important than the Zionist danger crouching on the Lebanese border to the south, which all but leaves the very existence of Lebanon threatened at every hour; or the question of woman's equality with man being more important than the danger of our homeland falling into the abyss of war — this has never entered, and must never enter, woman's mind. We did not raise this cause in order to be told from one side: your demands have come at the wrong time, because there is the Zionist danger and the danger of war; nor to be told from another side: you are spending your efforts and occupying public opinion with your demands at the expense of what is more important. Rather, we wanted woman's equality with man — especially in these circumstances — because the Lebanese woman has the right to be made equal to man, and because the homeland, when its women are equal to its men, becomes more capable and stronger in imposing positions and solutions that will guard it from the evil of entanglement in war, relieve it of the nightmare of the high cost of living, and enforce respect for freedom of thought within it.

In the light of these considerations, the Lebanese woman wishes to continue her efforts toward obtaining her political rights, whole and undiminished, in her capacity as a citizen like man; and on this basis she has the right to expect from you, gentlemen, every assistance and every support."

The Woman's Voice continued its survey, reaching the Ministry of Health, at whose head, at the hour this article is written, stands His Excellency Dr. Elias al-Khoury — that physician struggling to lighten the weight of tuberculosis, so terribly cruel to mothers... He works with a band of humanitarians to bring the number of its victims down to the lowest possible limit, and he comforts those victims with a tender, merciful heart.

Yet, my dear readers, and ladies of the Executive Committee, he supports you on one condition:

That the right to vote and to representation be given in stages, for a leap is impossible.

He says:

Woman and man are twins in rights and duties. This equality at the foundation does not prevent each of them from having personal aptitudes for dealing with certain aspects of life, in which they complement one another, with no superiority of one over the other.

The Western woman was helped by her environment toward emancipation, and in her advance she followed the law of evolution; so her emancipation came as no surprise to her, but as the natural result of several factors that brought her to where she now stands.

The Eastern woman has taken wide strides toward emancipation, whose effects have appeared in the surroundings in which she lives — something that needs no proof. And whenever I say "the Eastern woman," the Lebanese woman stands in the vanguard: she has contributed effectively in all spheres of literary and social life — in teaching, in education, in relief work — and some years ago she went beyond these into the national sphere, becoming one of the soldiers of independence; she fought the battle at man's side and bore her share of the struggle — so it was natural that she should have the rights he has.

It appears that the emancipated Lebanese woman holds that her equality with man will not be complete unless she obtains the right to vote and to representation — and she criticizes man for monopolizing this right and for making the educated and the ignorant equal within it.

Would granting her this right without restriction remedy what she has criticized in man?

Do we not see that such unrestricted extension among women carries the same hazards as unrestricted extension among men?

And has the Lebanese woman achieved sufficient development in all fields, with nothing left before her but the field of voting and representation, so that she may rest assured of her freedom and of her equality with man?

Opinions are unanimous, from the theoretical standpoint, that the Lebanese woman must be given her right in full. In my belief she can obtain the right to vote and to representation in stages that take account of her readiness, her environment, and her capacities — and a leap is impossible.

He approves of giving women their rights. Does he do so, one wonders, because his friends are pressing him to stand as a candidate for the city of Beirut, so that from this moment he is courting the favor of half of Lebanon?

He says:

I support the women in what they demand, because of my belief that woman — the educated woman especially — holds firmly to her conviction and to what she sees as right; rarely have I seen a woman waver in her belief.

Q — Do you expect woman to succeed in amending the law?

A — If the law is not amended today, then the women must help in the coming elections, so that the Chamber may be composed of sound deputies who will begin their work by recognizing woman's right. In my opinion the new legislation should confine the right to vote and to stand for election to educated women only, because the illiterate woman follows her husband's opinion.

Q — Then why does the illiterate man vote??

A — I say the vote should be withheld from all illiterates of both sexes.

Q — A rumor is going about in some circles to the effect that woman should resort to refusing to pay taxes until she obtains her right. What is your opinion?

A — I should like to persuade the women not to resort to violence; I am not among those who approve the rightness of civil disobedience. Let them keep to publicity, writing, and demanding.

Q — Woman has been demanding "gently" since 1935, and gentleness has gotten her nowhere.

A — Have you ever contemplated one of the little springs of Lebanon? Look at the stone beneath the spring: the spring that seems small and slight does its work with the passing of the days, and carves the rock without pick or cudgel...

The Woman's Voice: and from us... to those women who fault women for holding back from declaring civil disobedience.

Q — How do you see woman arriving at her rights?

A — I think it fitting that the Lebanese woman obtain political rights gradually, as far as circumstances permit.

Q — Do you think the highest authorities intend to give her these rights?

A — I think the highest authorities are not opposed to it in principle.

Q — If this session passes and the electoral law is not amended in woman's favor, do you think it fitting that she enter the municipal councils as a first step?

A — I see no objection to making the educated Lebanese woman a voter and to bringing her into the municipalities of the designated cities.

She is the general supervisor at the French Girls' College. She was born in Istanbul and spent some years of her girlhood in Europe. She holds the French baccalaureate in both its parts, the first and philosophy. She entered the law school and attended the first-year courses. When she became a mother she left theoretical law and consecrated herself to that divine right... the child's right over her. She speaks, reads, and writes five languages, and today, with her husband Mr. Hasib, she is learning the sixth.

She says:

Rights are taken, not given — and woman, when she asks for the right to vote, must be worthy of it.

Woman — in principle, the woman who has all the qualifications men have — has the right to vote; yet this principle cannot be applied in Lebanon, for the following reasons:

1 — Because woman's culture and her degree of refinement have not risen high enough.

2 — Because woman is still subordinate to her husband in everything... and so on voting day she will be a tool in his hand.

3 — Because the free exercise of the right to vote is not possible; man himself is not free with absolute freedom, and the causes that limit this freedom are: sectarianism... personal interests... and the deep roots of the party spirit and the clan spirit...

4 — Because woman, if she is to exercise her political right without falling short in her duties at home, cannot count on kindergartens to which she might entrust her children, Lebanon being bare of such institutions. Woman will vote and be voted for when the obstacles mentioned above disappear — and in my opinion her deprivation of the vote and of the right to sit in the Chamber does her no harm, so long as she carries out a mission more sacred still: preparing the children — in the schools or in the homes — to be good Lebanese citizens.

Our delegate put these two questions to some students of the baccalaureate class at the French College:

1 — I heard a student of your class say, apropos of the talk about the committee for woman's rights, that telegrams do not lead to rights. What, in your opinion, are the ways of getting there?

2 — When the time comes for you to vote and be voted for, what will your program be? And if you are only a voter, what will you require of your candidate?

A — Experience in our Arab East has taught us that talk, however fine, is the weapon of the weak, and telegrams are only a kind of this talk, which leads to no satisfying results. Since woman is not so weak as to resort to this path, I propose that she turn to practical means: let some of our ladies meet a select group of deputies of the present Chamber — for all talk outside the Chamber is counted as wasted — and propose to them that they remind the Prime Minister of a promise he made at the meeting of the Arab Women's Congress, namely, to give the Lebanese woman her rights undiminished after the first Arab country to do so. We ought to have been the first, but the matter is settled, and Syria was the one that began. I believe that amending the electoral law is not difficult, since six months have passed upon it, and that is the term fixed for any amendment; and I believe that the weapon of the wives will make the deputies champions of our cause, and the Lebanese Arab woman a grateful supporter of theirs.

I believe that when woman obtains her rights she will enjoy them all, and in the fullest way; and since elections are a national duty, there must be deep thought before practicing it and stretching out the hand with the ballot paper toward the appointed box.

As for my program, it is nearly one and the same whether I were a candidate or a voter:

1 — That the candidate be a man of culture and of understanding of the issues, with a measure of intelligence; and that he have a personality that imposes itself and is not led about according to the whims of certain people.

2 — That he fix meetings bringing together his electors, at which he explains to them the situations in local politics and world politics that perplex them.

3 — That he be the guide of the young: mentally, so that they follow him and he stands as a model for them; and physically, by opening athletic clubs and model schools.

5 — That he be modest, open-hearted toward every complaint, obliging.

6 — Last but not least, that he not use his parliamentary influence for personal ends, and that he have, beside his seat in the Chamber, another honorable occupation — so that his soul will not tempt him to give out his respected card as a passport for every affair that brings him in a little money.

If I were elected, I would add to the foregoing conditions work for woman's cause, because it is still crawling, and a brilliant future awaits it on which the future of the nation depends. Then I would open institutes for young ladies, where they would learn the cultivation of taste and the rearing of children, in the free hours the school allows.

A — The women's societies should present to the responsible authorities a list setting side by side ladies whose learning and culture qualify them to enter the arena of politics, and men who possess nothing of these qualifications, but who in spite of all this have managed to reach the Chamber — indeed, the ministry...

If I were given the right to vote, I would require of the man I wish to elect:

1 — That he be highly cultured (that is, university-educated).

2 — That he be an ambitious young man who desires to work in the service of his country and does not weary of it when circumstances cross him. And by youth I mean youth of opinion and thought, not youth of body.

3 — That he have been raised with a modern upbringing and with a measure of freedom of thought; for a young man shaped by the mentality of his father and grandfather has no right to represent his generation — he is rather a reactionary specimen of the generation of his father and grandfather.

If I became a deputy, I would strip myself of my own person and the person of my family, to do all that my conscience and my inner sense dictate to me, and I would make my motto: Justice is the foundation of rule.

Demands are not attained by wishing;
the world is taken by struggle.

That is my opinion!

A — I have read the protests, looked over the telegrams, and heard the discussions, but this is not enough; on the contrary, this is exactly what makes the men jeer and mock.

I have not yet seen women distinguish themselves in the various fields now open before them! (The Woman's Voice: Oh, come now!!) And as a result they have not imposed themselves upon society. I now see a solution that may be silly, or impossible: that every lady, or miss, prevent her husband or brother or father from voting if she herself does not obtain her rights. Perhaps by that we might arrive at a result.

As for me, I refuse absolutely to add my voice to the voices of the protesting women who are still at the stage of demanding... When the hour strikes, you will see! The days shall judge between us!

As regards the choice of my candidate, I say:

1 — I want him to hold Arab national principles in which he believes as he believes in his Lord.

2 — I want him not to spend a single dirham for the sake of his election — buying no votes and "greasing" no newspapers.

3 — I want him to fear no one: bold in his statements, bold in his opinions, believing that the law is the law, to be applied to great and small alike.

4 — And that his program include the abolition of sectarianism, the establishment of free schooling, and above all compulsory military service for young men and young women, and Arab unity.

As regards the second half of the question, I say:

I do not want to be a deputy, because my program for the future goes beyond the compass of all offices — presidencies and ministries included.

"The Woman's Voice"